Royal Capital, House Vede Manor.
In the resplendent chamber, sunlight filtered through stained glass windows, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow upon the velvet carpet.
The current head of the Veid Family, Duke Agnes Veid, sat upright in the main seat, leisurely stirring the red tea in his cup with graceful movements, yet his expression remained stern and unyielding.
“Margo, do you fully understand the mission you’re about to undertake?”
Agnes set down the teacup.
Before him stood a stout female knight, humbly bowing her head.
She was the Military Inspector assigned to Sunset Fortress—the Iron Butt Margo.
“Yes, Your Grace,” Margo quickly bowed, her tone obsequious and respectful.
“This time, I expect you to do everything in your power to provoke Eldest Princess Astreia, causing her to lose composure and speak recklessly in front of others. When you return to the Royal Capital, you will spread the word far and wide, utterly ruining her reputation…”
At this point, Margo hesitated, then mustered the courage to voice her lingering doubts.
“But, Your Grace, there is one thing I do not understand.”
“Speak.”
Agnes calmly wiped his fingertips with a square silk handkerchief, not even lifting his eyelids.
“Your Grace, the Eldest Princess has come seeking aid, yet the kingdom sent only me as Military Inspector. If I anger her now, what if… what if she suffers defeat against the Orcs, or worse, in a fit of rage abandons Sunset Fortress and leads her troops back to the Royal Capital to confront Her Majesty the Queen… How should we respond when Her Majesty demands accountability?”
“Heh.”
Agnes let out a contemptuous chuckle, as if he had just heard the most ridiculous joke.
“If she were capable of that, then she would no longer be Astreia Valoran.”
“That fool’s head is filled to bursting with knightly ideals and a sense of duty. Go ahead and humiliate her—at worst, she’ll get mad and beat you up, but she wouldn’t dare kill you. Then she’ll vent all her fury on the Orcs, faithfully holding the Northern Region until her last breath.”
Agnes’s fingertips tapped lightly on the table, a glint of sharpness flickering in his eyes.
“Let’s say, for the sake of argument, you actually get seriously injured by her. That would be even better. I’d have the perfect excuse to seize that so-called ‘gunpowder’ and ‘cement’ formulas the messenger mentioned, snatching them right from her grasp. When that happens, your merits and gold reward won’t be shortchanged in the slightest.”
“As for her defeat…”
Agnes’s lips curved into a sinister smile, “wouldn’t that be even better?”
The sunlight caught half his face, casting his well-maintained features in shifting light and shadow, making it impossible to read his true intentions.
Seeing this, Margo dared not question further; her minor doubts had long been replaced by greed for money and power.
“As you command! I shall not fail Your Grace’s trust!”
***
Several days later.
Inside Sunset Fortress’s great hall, the atmosphere was heavy and suffocating.
Margo’s heart sank deeper and deeper.
The situation was nothing like what the Duke had predicted.
When she arrived at Sunset Fortress, not a single officer was there to greet her, contrary to her expectations.
Even Edwin Veid, the Secretary who should have been stationed there, was nowhere to be found.
When she grabbed hold of the messenger who had once gone to the Royal Capital for aid and questioned him, he stammered and avoided eye contact, only telling her to ask Prince Wendy.
Wendy?
That Cavalier Kingdom prince again?
A sense of foreboding welled up inside Margo.
As she stepped into the hall, the officers and commanders who had once courted the Veid Family’s favor now looked at her with cold disdain.
“Iron Butt Margo? I know her—a fallen noble who became a mercenary. She’s tough and can take a beating. Never thought she’d become the Veid Family’s lapdog.”
“The Eldest Princess has been fighting tooth and nail, repelling hundreds of thousands of Orcs, and only then did reinforcements arrive from the Royal Capital?”
“Reinforcements? Only one fat Military Inspector showed up! Are they here to help or to steal credit?”
“Outrageous!”
The commanders’ whispered words fell like heavy blows against Margo’s heart.
Hundreds of thousands of Orcs… repelled?
So soon?!
Could the gunpowder and cement mentioned in the military reports truly wield such devastating power?
After a brief shock, overwhelming joy flooded Margo’s heart!
She could almost see countless gold coins beckoning to her!
The plan remains unchanged!
No—this is an opportunity to push it even further!
If she could provoke that foolish woman into severely injuring her and then return to the Royal Capital, Duke Agnes would undoubtedly reward her handsomely!
Promotion and fortune await with this move!
So when she saw Astreia holding that pretty boy’s arm as they descended the stairs, Margo didn’t hesitate. She charged forward, using the most vicious and provocative words she could think of to enrage any woman.
“You do look like a temptress, but I wonder if you’re skilled enough in bed to deserve your current position?”
The moment the words left her mouth,
the entire hall’s air froze instantly.
All eyes fixed on the tall, voluptuous figure descending the staircase.
“Hiss…”
Wendy brought a hand to his forehead, sensing this woman was beyond saving.
He could feel the voluptuous body holding him tense up to the extreme in an instant.
Sure enough, a terrifying aura filled with rage, destruction, and boundless killing intent suddenly exploded!
The temperature in the hall plummeted to freezing!
In that moment, Margo felt a terrifying killing intent crash over her like a tidal wave, causing every hair on her body to stand on end!
She jerked her head up to meet a pair of eyes beyond description.
Those were no longer human eyes!
Within the dark purple pupils burned hellfire.
Strange blood-red markings rapidly crawled up from Astreia’s pale neck, spreading under her eyes like two streaks of bleeding tears!
At this moment, the Eldest Princess showed not a trace of the “Northern Lioness’s” valor and steadfastness.
She was clearly a demon god crawling out from the abyss!
“Where… did… you… stink… bug… come from?!”
As the words fell, Astreia’s left arm remained wrapped around Wendy, but her right hand transformed into a blur of blinding speed, slapping the disgusting, bloated face at the foot of the stairs with a fierce crack!
“Smack!!!”
A crisp, resounding snap suddenly exploded through the hall!
Margo’s twisted, triumphant expression froze solid.
The next second, her vision spun wildly.
Ceiling, floor, terrified commanders, Wendy Black’s sly smile… all the sights in front of her blurred into swiftly rotating patches of color, trailing long afterimages.
One circle, two circles, ten circles, a hundred, a thousand…
Margo’s neck twisted like a rope wrung to its limit, emitting unbearable “crack” sounds.
Before the pain could reach her brain, boundless darkness swallowed her whole.
“What… is… happening…”
This was Iron Butt Margo’s last thought in this world.
Until death, she could not understand why the Eldest Princess—famous for her “chivalry”—would not hesitate to strike a killing blow.
Why… was she so unlucky?